Congress urged to keep foreign aid focused on world's poor

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Congress urged to keep foreign aid focused on world's poor
September 28, 2006, Washington, DC - In testimony today before a U.S. House International Relations subcommittee, Ken Hackett, president of Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services (CRS), while commending the Bush Administration for its efforts to reduce barriers for faith-based organizations to fairly compete with other organizations in critical Federal programs, urged that the anti-poverty intentions of foreign aid programs not get sidetracked by the war on terror.

“While we recognize that the primary intent of the Faith-Based and Community Initiative was not directed to the larger religiously based groups . . . I would suggest all of us have noticed an increased openness to religious organizations at different levels of the Administration,” Hackett said.

However, Hackett also warned about the Administration’s shift in U.S. foreign policy and foreign assistance toward a narrow and short-term focus on security and anti-terrorism. Mr. Hackett cautioned against diverting attention and resources from efforts to alleviate poverty and address the root causes of hunger, which is itself a source of political instability.

“Obviously terrorism is a deep concern for our country. It is understandable that a significant portion of overall U.S. foreign assistance must be directed toward helping countries deal with that threat,” Hackett said. “But our increased attention to terrorism has produced a distinct decrease in attention to the worst impacts of poverty.”

Hackett testified on the role of U.S. faith-based organizations in Africa before the House International Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations.

Hackett said that as a board member of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, he is “proud of the strides that have been made in that unique effort to help countries deal with poverty reduction. We achieve that goal through conscious and deliberate investments in economic growth, as well as social infrastructure and policy changes that are integral to the overall process of growth and poverty reduction.”

However, he said he was troubled by reports coming out of some U.S. embassies and USAID missions that all programs need to be justified solely on the basis of counter-terrorism terms.

“We see deep cutbacks in support of food aid programs, safety net programs and U.S. Government funding of programs that reach the poorest segments of African society. I have wondered how I would ask the Missionaries of Charity in Ethiopia to justify their severely reduced [U.S. food aid] allotment, which they have used to feed the most destitute, in counter-terrorism terms,” he said.

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